robbo and leeazaa’s travel adventures

We haven’t had the best luck when it comes to international flights but that said we have only taken one so far and that set the bar pretty low. Well thankfully Japan Airlines was a very comfortable and helped make the journey err…. fly by.

Customs was a breeze and this time around and as a bonus we didn’t have any smart asses asking us how many jars of Vegemite we had brought in – well maybe they did and we just didn’t understand them.
We lugged our bags to the train station, sorted out our rail pass and grabbed a train to Shinagawa to our shoebox hotel for the night. It was quite a squeeze with all the luggage and backpacks but thankfully we were too buggered to care and just crashed.
Next morning we were up at the crack of dawn, grabbed a Maccas breakfast and caught the rail down to Osaka to meet our translator/tour guide for the next couple days, Ol’ Timmy Tuder – the old boy wasn’t hard to spot either.

Tuuuuuudes!

Our hotel is ALOT bigger than the previous one and in the heart of “America Town”, Shinsaiabashi. The fashions in this area are just like the city itself – bright and loud. Spray on jeans are rampant, as are pointy toed shoes and shirts with sewn on patches.

A local street

Tudes took us to a local haunt for a good Japanese feed and a couple fantastic beers (a taste of things to come I’m sure) then we succumbed to another bout of jet lag and crashed for the night.

The Aquarium

Next morning, we got up bright and early to meet Tudes and Ai and caught the train to the aquarium. We were a bit skeptical about another aquarium since the ones we’ve been to in the states were sub-par and hugely overpriced. It’s incredible the sheer amount of water they have contained within the four storey housing and of course the assortment of delicious animals.

whale shark

A whale & A Leeane

Whilst there we couldn’t turn down the opportunity to get on the world’s biggest Ferris wheel for an overview of the neighbourhood.

big wheel

view from the ferris wheel

We headed towards Osaka castle but took a quick detour for lunch at a well known place in a town I can’t remember the name of. There we tried a bunch of fried animal parts which again were utterly scrumptious despite knowing what parts they were. We eventually found out they included cow tendons and pregnant fish. Leeane took a special liking to the cow tendons which took me by complete surprise.

Fried Random Goodness

mmmm tendons

Osaka castle is surrounded by a series of moats and is apparently for its time the most impenetrable castle in Japan.

The Impenetrable Osaka Castle

Tudes, Rob, Ai, Leeane

The night consisted of hitting a couple of bars and meeting up with some of Tim’s mates from when he was living here. It was a fun night of mostly 80s nostalgia which I think left the girls a little bewildered

good times

To make amends, the next day we did something the girls wanted to do, have a tour of the Asahi Brewery. The tour itself was fairly interesting albeit a little confusing for Leeane and myself (all in Japanese) however for the promise of 25 minutes of endless beer at the end of the tour, it was worth enduring. Needless to say good times flowed.

Asahi Tour Guide

Next up is a day trip to Hiroshima. Stay tuned.

Rob

Tags: japan, osaka

OK blog post mania at the moment.. this is the 3rd in an hour!

So as we spend our last days in the USA I thought it would be good to post the list of the things we have found “strange” in the USA. We have been compiling this list since we arrived way back in July. Some of these strange things are good things.. some are annoying things…. but all are different to the “norm” life as we know it back in Australia.

Oh and it doesn’t include the obvious things like driving on the wrong side of the road etc.

• When ordering a burger, the wait-staff ask how you want your meat patty cooked (medium/well-done etc). I am pretty sure I have never been asked that back in Australia – not for a hamburger – we just assume “cooked”.
• Many shops don’t accept notes higher than $20. In fact if you get a large amount of money out at an ATM, it is dispensed in a big wad of $20’s only.
• If you give a cashier a $100 note (although not sure where you would have got it from in the first place), they hold it up to the light for a second. As if they could tell it’s counterfeit with a quick glance!
• If you see something which is $15 – it ends up being some silly amount like $16.13 once you go to the cashier because of sales tax (made up of a state tax + city tax + county tax).
• Pennies are useless. Get rid of them!!
  
• Half milk/half cream (called half-half) is common place for people’s coffee and tea. It is gooood!
• Showers are not simple to turn on. There’s only one tap and a shower head and faucet underneath (for a bath). You have to turn on the tap and then figure out some obscure contraption to redirect the water flow from the faucet to the shower head. An obscure switch or piston-like knob normally.
• A lot of cars have only brake lights on the back. The left or right brake light will flash when being used as an indicator.
• Suicide lanes – a lane in the middle of the road where cars coming in either direction can turn. Scary.
• The TV adverts here are… confronting. Erection problems, prostate issues, genital herpes.. you name it.. there’s someone talking about it.. in detail. And there’s always an incredible list of disclaimers tacked on to the end of the ad e.g. for an asthma drug – “if you have asthma which is current under control with other medication you should not take  XXX as there is an increased risk of asthma-related deaths when using  XXX “. Riiiiggghhhhttttt.
• Drive thru ATM. Actually very handy.
• Drive thru post boxes. Also very handy.
• Stores that sell guns AND alcohol are common. Scary.
• In restaurants, entrees are main-courses. So you order an appetizer (optional), an entree and a dessert (optional).
• In many bars, a pint is actually the smallest size of glass (although the bigger glass is the same size as an actual pint you would get in Australia). Weird!
• Stores and supermarkets provide what Rob and I have been calling “Fatty-Carts” for people who are morbidly obese. And, boy, there’s quite a few of them here in the states. Anyways, these carts are motorised scooters which you normally see the elderly using. The stores provide them to their obese customers to help them get around the store as they buy up big on more unhealthy goodness. Smart move by the stores.

So that’s about all the notable things we can think of. I have a feeling there will be many more strange things in Japan coming up.. starting with their toilets!

Leeane

Tags: odd stuff, usa

Our final weekend was spent in one of our favourite cities of our trip – Austin, Texas. Matt and Lauren (who we met earlier on our travels) invited us to stay the weekend and see some of the nightlife of Austin.

First up was a bit of sight-seeing at Mount Bonnell – kind of like the Kings Park equivalent of Austin. We got there just at the right time too to watch as the sun set. The river is lined with mansions and we were forever trying to spot Matthew McConaughey or Lance Armstrong – but alas, no luck.

How's the serenity

Robster and I

Matt and Lozza

After some dinner we headed out to the Warehouse District of the city. Since we hadn’t been to that part of town before it was great to see what else Austin had to offer. First up was a bar with 100’s of beers available – and even an Australian beer besides Fosters woohoo!

Rob seems to be a magnet for bums bumming money. And this night was no exception. We somehow managed to have a bum serenading us – and he just would not shut up. Finally Rob flipped him a buck and told him to work on his pitch.

Awkward moment with the bum

The next night we were lucky enough to go to Lauren’s dad’s place for a premature birthday celebration for Matt. The food was incredible and we had air hockey and pool to entertain us. We had so many laughs it was ridiculous – Laurens brother in particular was pretty hilarious.

Me being schooled at air hockey

Doubles

Linda, Matt, Lauren and Marty

A big thanks to Matt and Lauren for letting us intrude for the weekend. We had a great time and would love to repay the favour sometime.

So we are off to Japan tomorrow – should be a bit of a cultural change. Lets hope we don’t get lost straight away.

Leeane

PS> I bought an iPod touch (an early birthday present from Rob) and it is awesome!

Tags: austin, texas

We got to scratch off another thing from our ‘things to do in America list’ the other day, which of course means we fired a handgun in a dry creek bed. It feels really strange and highly illegal firing off rounds in the backyard but that feeling disappeared as quick as my hearing after the first shot.

bang!

bang bang!

bang bang bang!

We also managed to drag Clydester away from his endless grazing to pose with us in some pictures. I had a slightly bad feeling that he’d charge off and trample us horribly, but thankfully he just stood there and slept instead.

blazing saddles

giddy up

A couple days later we decided a German food fix in near by Fredericksburg was in order. Conveniently on the way is an old train tunnel which since it’s demise in the 1940s has since become inhabited by tens of thousands of bats. Consequently the bat’s have made it there own by infusing the tunnel with guano, more technically known as bat shit in these parts. The smell is undescribable, to the point where even Duffy was overwhelmed.

the bat cave

The picture doesn’t really do the scene justice as if you look at the far entrance of the tunnel you’ll see black specks darting around everywhere against the stark white contrast of the sunlight. The tunnel also has nightly viewings of the bats leaving the tunnel at sunset for their nightly feed of crickets and moths, unfortunately we were a couple hours early for that one and we had a feed of our own to hunt for.

An outstanding German feast at the Fredericksburg Brewery was in order, topped off with a few fine, german pilsners. Curiosity got the better of Uncle Bob and myself and we ordered a sample of their ‘finest’ bitter…. my oath it was the bitterest thing I’ve ever tasted! For the beer lovers out there, the IBU (bitterness rating) was 100 which may not mean anything to you but compare it to say Little Creatures Pale Ale which I find quite bitter and around 25-30 IBU and you’ll get the picture.

die shintzel ein rueben!

Unfortunately our stay with Uncle Bob and the various critters had to come to an end sometime, I think it was harder to say goodbye the second time but he’ll be in Australia next year so knowing that makes it easier.

Rob

Tags: texas

The challenge of eating a supersized McDonalds meal has been completed. And let’s cut to the chase… I failed.

There could be many excuses – the heat, the fact that we at at 5pm (hardly dinner time!!) or the fact I had stuffed myself with Reeses Butter Cups already etc. But in the end there are no excuses – it was a heck of a lot of food and drink.

Mmmm doesnt that just look delicious!

We were lucky enough to find a McDonalds that actually does the supersizing still. Supersizing seems to be a bit of a dirty word since the movie came out. Of course, everything is bigger in Texas so we were in the right state to find a supersized-enabled Macca’s.

I started off with the fries – did most of them.. then did the burger… started to hit the wall right about there. After downing half the Coke I tried to go back to the fries to finish them off, but I just couldn’t face any more. I could have taken the drink and fries with me to finish later (after all I had 45 minutes to complete the challenge) but at that stage I didn’t want to be within a 10-foot pole of any food so had to admit failing the challenge.

Stuffing my cheeks - this was before I hit the wall

Big fries and coke. Note Uncle Bobs face in the background.

Of course, 20 minutes later I was feeling better and wished I had kept the food so I could finish it.

The leftover fries that stood between me an victory. Damn them!

Oh well. Next time!!  Not.
Leeane

Tags: mcdonalds, texas

We have been spending the last few days at Uncle Bob’s place having a good relaxation session and feasting on all things bad for us. We have also been working on our tans (or lack thereof) and Rob has been counting the blisters on his hands after chopping up trees with an axe for Uncle Bob.

After spending the day listening to Average White Band on my iPod to gear up for the gig we are going to next Tuesday, I thought I would check my email. And lo-and-behold… an email from Ticketmaster saying the one and only gig in San Francisco has been CANCELLED!

Needless to say, we are absolutely devasted. The only way we could see them is to make a mad rush up to Seattle – but I don’t think thats gonna happen.

We went to an IHOP which stands for International House of Pancakes. So those that know me, know that… well… pretty much heaven. The food was certainly bigger and better than the diner meals we have had, and still very cheap. I wish I had taken a photo!! But maybe we will go back there before our time is up.

Next on our list is to go to McDonalds before we leave Texas. Because I have to get that pesky “Macca’s Challenge” out of the way – else I will never hear the end of it!!

Leeane

Tags: texas

For the past number of days we have been at Disney World, which according to every one we’ve spoken with in Orlando requires ‘at least a week’ to see everything. Well, let me tell you that those people are quitters and should be ashamed to call themselves tourists, we the self proclaimed super tourists did all four parks in two days…. BOOYA!

behold....Disney!

street view in Disney Hollywood Studios

It’s a tough couple of days though and the journey is plagued with wave after wave of children and backed up by an armoured division of strollers and motorized carts, nicknamed ‘fatty carts’ on the frontline. The endless march was plagued by blisters and the enemy unrelenting but the rewards were thrilling.

everest rollercoaster in Animal Kingdom

The parks themselves are leagues better than Universal Studios as there is heaps more to see and do to the point where you can’t actually see one side of the park from the other. The pretext for each of the rides is well thought out and is a good distraction when you are stuck in a line for 30 minutes. Thankfully for us we had a system going so our wait times were minimal.

giraffe ass

It seems we have picked the perfect time to be in theme park country, all the hotel rates have come down dramatically and the crowds in the various parks have been ‘low’ according to the cast members. The queue lanes for the most popular rides show just how busy they can get but thankfully the extended, winding lanes have all been sectioned off for the off-peak.

Leeane in the Magic Kingom

To summarise, Orlando has been great humid fun and we’ve seen some cool stuff and some of the largest people ever but it has been a busy week so we are happy to have a day off tomorrow and then head off to see Uncle Bob and Duffy some more.

Rob

Tags: orlando

We booked a tour of the Kennedy Space Center which is somewhat close to the theme-park crazed area where we are staying. After rising at ungodly hour (6am) we sleep-walked our way to the pickup point for a bus ride to our first stop on the tour – an airboat ride along the everglades!

We climbed aboard the airboat which comes equipped with ear muffs due to the deafening sound. Our captain took us for a 40min ride, where we spotted many alligators and even a bald-headed eagle. I have to admit though, the first time the boat headed straight for some green weeds I felt like turning around to the captain to make sure he was paying attention.

Lining up for our ride

Gator!!!

Good hair day

After that we continued on to Kennedy Space Center where we spent the rest of the day. First up was a bus tour where we got to see some smart people building modules for the International Space Center and also one of the launch pads – with a shuttle ready to go for next months launch. Everything is just on a massive scale – its quite incredible really.

Astronaut Rob reporting for duty

Launch Pad

Our day also included a “Shuttle Launch Experience” ride which is NASA’s answer to Walt Disney World’s rides. The build up to the ride was a bit concerning with the constant video tour guide asking “Are you sure you want to do this?? If you don’t think your body can handle it please put up you hand now so a staff member can lead you to the exit”. Thankfully the ride itself was bearable (especially after the insane rollercoasters and Universal Studios). It basically involves a lot of extreme shaking to the point that your cheeks ache from flapping about everywhere.

We also seen some pretty cool 3D IMAX films about the International Space Centre and Walking on the Moon – definitely very cool indeed.

Houston.. we have a problem

An orbiter/shuttle

ridiculously large solid rocket boosters and fuel tank

The next day we visited the local mini-golf place which has 36 elaborate holes to play. It was good fun.. and… *cough* I won.

The technique is ALLLLL wrong!

Winning by so much I stopped for a break by the picturesque falls

In an update to Rob’s attack on me the other day about complaining to Universal Studios and being a “typical Scot”, I am happy to report that I scored two free tickets to return to the parks and hopefully go on all the rides which were closed on our first visit. It pays to complain I guess.

So we still have Walt Disney World to do here in Orlando – we will be doing that in a couple days as we want to avoid going there on a weekend.

Our plans are to leave Orlando on the 25th and head back to….. Texas! Yes we decided to skip New Orleans and head straight for the low-beer prices of the cowboy state. Uncle Bob, Duffy and Clyde thankfully said they would put up with us again and we will hopefully catch up with Matt and Lauren again too. So we will be spending a bit of time there before heading back to San Francisco (and an Average White Band gig – very exciting) before our flight to Japan.

Leeane

Tags: orlando

Orlando is like Las Vegas for families where instead of paying through the nose at the pokies, you pay through the sweat glands with the saturating humidity. There’s nothing like stepping out of your nice, air conditioned hotel room at 7:30 am to the smell of water in the air thanks to the 110% humidity.

Leeane appropriately standing where Australia roughly is

We made our way down the road to Universal Studios today, which actually consists of two separate parks one of which concentrates more on the ‘theatrical’ rides. Theatrical rides seem to be a bit hit and miss as some of them turn out to not be ‘rides’ at all but rather a handful of d-grade actors leading you around a few darkened rooms. Others have the same elaborate build up, but they pump you into a roller-coaster at the end of it for a quick getaway. I’m probably being too critical but when you line up for 20 minutes in the stinking humidity you kind of expect more.

You can see the humidity

Fortunately there are some awesome thrill rides scattered around the parks which don’t disappoint. Some of the stand out rides include, ‘The IQ Dropper’, ‘The Up Chucker’ and ‘The Potential Lawsuit’ all of which jerk you around like a killer whale tenderising a seal pup. Maybe we are both getting old or maybe the rides are just getting more insane but we definitely felt like we had sea legs after each ride and had to take a couple minutes to let our lunch settle between rides.

the spaghetti loop roller coaster

Back to the Future - delorean

All in all Universal Studios was mostly crowd-free so getting onto all the rides was more or less painless, the only bad point was that a bunch of the rides were closed or under repair. Needless to say Leeane did what Scot’s do best and lodged a complaint with them.

Simpsons Ride

wooooo

We are off to Kenndy Space centre tomorrow and an airboat tour over the Everglades, it should be a hoot. Apparently they have a Launch Simulator which should really push our internal organs into strange new places. Lawyers on standby…

Rob

Tags: orlando, theme park

We have spent the last couple of days exploring Washington D.C. – which is mostly museums and memorials.

First up is the Capitol Building. Pretty impressive and it looks a bit bigger than the one in Austin which we seen.

Capitol Building

We also went to the Museum of Air and Space which Rob enjoyed a lot. It wasn’t too “kiddified” and it was free admission which made it all the more enjoyable.

The Moon Lander!!

Second-up was our third Museum of Natural History which we have seen in USA. It was pretty good, but I think the one in Chicago was by far the best one we have seen. The one in D.C. did have the Hope Diamond though (along with dedicated security guards) which was nice to see.

Hope Diamond

Next up was the Vietnam War Memorial. It is a big wall with the names of all of those killed or missing in action. What makes it more interesting is that people leave things next to the wall (medals they have left over from one of their relatives that died, photos etc) and they just leave them there until some official goes around and collects them every night (they take them to the Smithsonian Museum).

The Three Soldiers

Vietnam Memorial

The reflective wall of the Vietnam memorial

Lastly was the Korean War Memorial which is made up of numerous soldier statues in a staggered pattern. It’s quite an amazing sight.

Korean War Memorial

So we are all done in Washington D.C. now – heading to Orlando for some theme park fun tomorrow.

Leeane

Tags: washington